Delayed
by Ageless Light
Summary: While on leave during the holidays, Evan finds a surprisingly enjoyable way to pass the time waiting for his flight. First out of six one-shots in the "Airport Girl" series.


**Title:** Delayed

**Author: **Ageless Light

**Beta-ed by:** Nobody right now! But I'd like one!

**Fandom: **Stargate Atlantis

**Characters/Pairing: **Evan Lorne/OC. (Post-Lorne/Cadman, though it's not in this particular one-shot)

**Genre:** General

**Rating: **T (Contains content suitable for mature teens and older)

**Summary:** While on leave during the holidays, Evan finds a surprisingly enjoyable way to pass the time waiting for his flight.

**Warnings/Notes:** This is the first one-shot in the series "Airport Girl." Prequel to "Determined".

**Spoilers:** Season 5's EATG. (There is no mention of this in the timeline anywhere in this fic, but the sequel fics will be after EATG, so just a head's up now).

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything in the Stargate Universe. I do own the OC's though. I went to BabyNames . com for my character names.

**Word Count:** 3,965 **Revised/Edited on:** April 29, 2011.

**Created on:** September 2, 2009

**Status:** One-shot. Complete.

**Category:** Series of one-shots

"Talk" – regular talking

_Talk-_ Thoughts

* * *

Delayed

"Delayed. Delayed. Delayed. All of them are delayed. This is not how I wanted to spend my holidays. At this rate I won't even make it to Mom and Dad's house before the ball drops." Giving her most fearsome glare, the young woman stalked away from the message board and dragged her carry-on bag through the Philadelphia International Airport with a purpose.

With only a few minutes past midnight the airport was oddly deserted despite it being right before New Year's Eve. Of course it could have something to do with the powerful back to back snowstorms that had almost all flights grounded. All nearby hotels were booked as weary travelers settled in for the night, hoping that their flights would resume in the morning and they could make it home in time for the celebrations. Passing the closed food court and the mini shopping mall the young woman blew a piece of her rich mahogany colored hair out of her face and continued on.

After several long minutes of walking she arrived at her destination. Terminal wing "F" was bathed in an eerie silence. There were less than a few dozen people sitting in the waiting chairs by the numerous gates. All of them appeared to be curled up sleeping trying to find what little comfort they could from the cold metal chairs. Only a low murmur from an employee behind the information desk could be heard outside of her footsteps. Quietly she made her way towards the end of the terminal to her gate and was relieved to find it completely empty save for herself. Gently, she set her carry-on bag down on a random chair and stalked to the large glass windows. Dark eyes, the color of swirlling chocolate, glanced out into the night and became entranced with the falling snow. Even with the airport lights setting the night ablaze it was difficult to see out into the blizzard.

With her eyes, she traced the intricate ice crystal patterns that had formed from the freezing rain on the glass. The wind howled ominously and the wintry mix outside seemed to come down more violently as if it knew it had an audience. With a grimace she stepped back away from the window and rubbed her arms with her palms to erase the chill she felt. Slowly, she made her way back to her pack and sat down on a chair. As an afterthought she got up and dragged a nearby chair towards her. Placing her feet on the seat she reclined, letting loose a frustrated sigh.

Uncomfortable falling asleep in such a place, she tried to ignore the exhaustion that was over taking her. Furiously, she searched her bag for her iPod and with a triumphant noise pulled it out. Placing the ear buds in she clicked the screen on, and began searching for something that would keep her awake. Finding her playlist 'the road so far' she let the opening notes from Bon Jovi's "Living on a pray" fill her.

Hours later, her iPod had died and she almost felt like cursing. All of her books were packed in her luggage except for the one she already finished. Pondering for a few moments she wondered what she could do to occupy her time. Glancing at her wrist watch, she realized it was only a little before two in the morning. Realization struck her and she remembered she had packed a set of cards that she had found at the gift shop's cash register. _Anything to help keep me awake at this point, _she mused.

Standing up she moved her chair and started rummaging through her bag. After having to take almost everything out she had found the small pack of cards and started shuffling. In the middle of doing the bridge shuffle, she lost her grip on the cards and they scattered around her. Repressing an urge to sigh she started to pick them up. Moments passed and she realized that some of her cards had bounced over the backing of the seats to the other row. It was in that moment that she noticed her cards had landed not only all over a few chairs but a person, a guy, to be more correct.

"Just great." She muttered while she mentally debated waking the poor guy up or risk grabbing her cards. Deciding to try her luck, she sucked in a breath and started to carefully pick up the cards on the seats around him, while throwing furtive glances at his face. She picked up all the cards by his legs on the surrounding seats and when he didn't move or show any sign that he was awake or would wake up, she chose to pick up the cards actually on him. After picking up the two cards that were resting on his jean covered calf she felt braver and wanted to try picking up the queen of hearts that had landed on his ribs. She noticed there was an odd bulge on his chest, and after a moment she realized that the bulge was familiar. She knew that he was wearing ID tags, or dog tags, under his shirt. The reason she could tell they were ID tags so quickly, was because her uncle was in the Air Force and he wore the tags as well. This meant the man covered in playing cards was also in the military. _Probably on leave,_ she thought logically. Despite knowing he was in the military she decided to try and retrieve her cards, hopefully, without waking him. _After all, you can't play most card games without the face cards,_ she pondered. So far he hadn't detected her and she rationalized that if he was going to notice her presence then he would have by now. The poor guy was probably just as exhausted with all the delays as she was.

With bated breath she slowly reached her hand out towards the card on his chest and that's when everything burst into motion. The stranger not only awoke, but sat up and reached for her as if he had sensed her. Her mind didn't even register that he moved because he was so fast. It was only until his hand enclosed upon her wrist painfully and yanked her towards him that she comprehended it all. She yelped and dropped the remaining cards in her hands as she was practically dragged over the chairs. The back end of the seat dug painfully into hipbone. With her free hand she clung to the end of another chair in the attempts to not fall on him. Barely coherent she babbled apologizes and explanations.

"I just was trying to get the cards I dropped. I didn't mean to wake you up, or scare you. I'm so sorry." At this point she tried to extract her wrist which was throbbing in his iron clad grip. With pleading eyes she stared into the man's startling blue eyes hoping that he noticed she was speaking the truth and would let go. With shallow breaths she tried to appear calm and not as startled as he must have been. It took a moment, probably because the man needed a second to adjust to being awake, before he realized he was grabbing a girl and released her. Cobalt colored eyes analyzed the scene in front of him with sharp clarity. The girl that loomed over him was almost in tears, rubbing her wrist, and apologizing to him frantically.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't think you would wake up. I didn't mean to invade your personal space or anything but-" After breathing a sigh of relief he cut her off and answered her.

"It's alright. You just startled me that's all. Did I hurt you?" He gestured towards her wrist. Panic bloomed on her face and she hastily tried to reassure him.

"No. No. It's my fault anyway. I mean I can just imagine how it looked with me practically on top of you reaching for Queen Amidala." Confusion filled his face until he looked at the card that was now sitting in his lap.

"You have a set of playing cards… with Star Wars character's on them?" His tone had taken on a hint of amusement and his dark blue eyes traced over her frame taking in every detail. Surprisingly, there was not a touch of judgment in his gaze.

Noting that she was in her mid twenties and almost 5'7'' she was graced with dark hair and eyes. Her face was elegant with a small nose, and angular cheekbones, much like a ballet dancer's usual graceful look. She was slender but even through her business outfit he could tell that she had all the right curves in all the right places. Overall he thought she was beautiful, and had she passed him on a street she would have turned his head. As his eyes swept back up to her face, he noticed she was biting her lower lip in uncertainty.

"It's alright, really. Here" Clenching his jaw, he bit back a yawn, and handed her one of the many cards that littered his person. Smiling slightly and honestly he turned on his charm in the hopes of reassuring her.

She blinked at him; once and then twice, before she smiled in return. At first he had thought her beautiful but when she smiled, her face lit up in a way that made her _startlingly _gorgeous, and her relief at his forgiveness was evident. Absently, he began gathering the rest of her cards. Hearing the clip of her heels on the tile floor it signaled that she was walking around to his row of chairs to retrieve her cards as well.

"Thanks." Even though he wasn't looking at her, he could tell by her tone that there was still a smile on her face.

"It's not a problem. Do you know what time it is?"

"Yea. Just before two a.m." Groaning in displeasure he tried to work out the stiffness in his frame from being cramped on the chairs for hours. The fact that he slept so deep, without any interruptions proved how exhausted he really was. Normally, she would not have gotten within several meters of him before his senses picked up a disturbance and awoke him. In response to his actions she laughed lightly drawing his attention from his thoughts.

"I agree."

"The flights?" He asked as he retrieved the Ace of Diamonds, which just happened to have the picture of Darth Sidious, on it from the floor under the seats. Carefully, he resisted the urge to snort in amusement.

"Still delayed." They worked in silence for a few seconds trying to pick up all the cards that were scattered around them until he spoke again trying to find something to say.

"Do you know if the food court is open?"

"Everything is pretty much shut down, even the café and the mall here." Pausing for a moment her faced scrunched up in concentration as she replayed her walk through the airport before continuing, "I am pretty sure I saw a vending machine at the beginning of the terminal though."

With a wave of her hand she pointed towards the front to emphasize her point. When he handed her his pile of collected cards, she took them with a smile showing perfectly white teeth.

"Thanks. I'm Ali by the way." Extending her hand she introduced herself politely.

"Evan. Nice to meet you." Grasping her hand lightly he shook hers and gave her a dimpled grin.

"Same here." With that she turned and headed back to her seat. Evan watched her for a moment his thoughts running. Deciding that passing the time with a beautiful woman was better than staring at the ceiling waiting for the weather to clear, he called out to her.

"Ali?" Already she had rounded into her aisle when he called out to her and now her body stilled, waiting. Glancing to her left she met his gaze questioningly.

"I think I'm going to go raid the vending machine. Would you mind watching my stuff?"

"Oh. Not at all." She stated completely honest.

"Great. Do you want anything?" Retrieving his wallet from his jacket he looked at her. Indecision flitted across her face before she politely declined. With a nod he headed off and decided that he would just get some extra items in case either of them got hungry later on. He may not have Mitchell's manners but was raised to be polite as well.

* * *

_(Scene Change)_

"Hmm. I see your bet of pretzels and raise you two Bugles." Ali called out as she placed the appropriate snack foods in the pot while watching her opponent critically.

It had been several hours since Evan had returned from the vending machine with food. At first they engaged in small talk until Ali asked Evan if he wanted to play some card games to pass the time. Not having anything else to do he agreed. Ever since then they had bonded over the various card games they played. Both were relaxed, sitting on the floor. Ali had kicked her heels off despite the probably unsanitary conditions of the floor.

The storm had lessened and the airport was slowly waking up. Currently, they were playing poker and watching the crews working hard to clear the runways. It was during one of their card games that they both found out they were going to Colorado Springs. Evan had just come back from his college roommate's wedding and was going to spend the remaining holidays with his sister and nephews back in Colorado. Ali in turn had informed Evan that she had finally finished her business trip and was also going to spend the remaining holidays with her family.

"I fold." Evan replied to her challenge. Pursing her lips she considered him. Now used to her scrutiny he waited patiently for her to speak, knowing that she would.

"You are cheating. Let me see your cards." Evan chuckled; reached for the deck and quickly starting shuffling the cards. His deceit was obvious.

"I can't be cheating, I folded remember?" Replying smoothly he reached across the chair to grab her cards and included them in the pile.

"You are letting me win. I know it. That's cheating." Even with her meanest glare Evan remained unaffected. With a dramatic sigh she collected her winnings and added them to her pile of junk food. With Pretzels, Bugles, granola bars, and Doritos her winnings pile was easily triple the size of Evan's pile; which consisted of Doritos, Party Mix, and pieces of gum.

"Fine. We are playing crazy eight's now. This way you can't cheat."

"Except I have the cards, so I decide." The dimpled grin that she was becoming familiar with came to the surface and his blue eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Yea, but we are still going to play crazy eight's." With a laugh he started to deal out the cards and they continued to pass the time waiting as departure drew closer.

* * *

_(Scene change)_

"I can't believe that people canceled and we were able to get bumped up to an earlier flight! Isn't this great? Now we will both be home hours earlier than we thought." Ali spoke to Evan as they walked down the ramp to their new flight. Since it was still before dawn most people that had the early flights were still asleep and planning on booking a later flight. Allowing Evan and Ali since they were in the terminal to book their current flight. When they arrived at the desk the employee thought they were together and booked their seats next to each other because Evan was carrying both of their bags, at his insistence. Oddly enough neither one of them corrected her. Neither of them complained when they learned they had a layover in Atlanta, because they still would be home earlier than they originally thought.

The stewardess greeted them with a smile, that was way too perky for being so early, and pointed them to their seats. The plane was already half full by the time they packed their gear and settled in. There was only an aisle separating them and there didn't seem to be other passengers in their rows allowing them to spread out and enjoy the extra space for the moment.

"Are you afraid to fly?" Evan asked her as the plane started to take off when he noticed her discomfort.

"No. I don't mind flying, but it's just... I've been flying so much that I'm just sick of it. What about you?" At this question Evan laughed and said he was not only comfortable flying he loved it. It was the way he said it that made Ali wonder if there was more to his statement but it was not her place to pry so she just nodded.

The flight was routine and the pair slept through their first plane ride. They had breakfast at one of the fast food places in Atlanta's food court before racing to board their second and final plane to Denver. On their way to Denver they continued to trade anecdotes. Evan had even shown Ali some of his sketching abilities and was absently doodling on their drink napkins while Ali waited for a stewardess to bring her a blanket.

"I was right. It is you. You are Miss Sole, right?" Evan drew his eyes from his drawing and looked at Ali, but she was focused on the two stewardesses that were crowding her. One of which was holding out a blanket for her. With a small smile she nodded only to have the older stewardess bombard her with questions.

"Can I have your autograph? My daughter and I love your work. Please?" It was at this point that the other passengers took notice of the commotion. Sending a worried glance at Evan, which he met with his own questioning gaze, she answered the ladies.

"I would be happy to." Her tone was calm, even, polite, but Evan could tell that she was uneasy. More than his curiosity was peaked and he turned his full attention to the situation unfolding before him.

"Did you know that I watched the entire Grammy's show just waiting to see if you would win? And you did! Of course you did, you are an amazing performer. "Another older gentleman rows ahead of her recognized her and practically shouted his excitement at the discovery.

"Ashelia Sole, the violinist is on my plane! I can't believe it." He rose from his seat and began asking for her autograph as well. Another stewardess came back to see what the commotion was and Ali was slowly losing all of her personal space from them. The new stewardess took charge of the situation and asked if Ali would like to move. The famous violinist explained that she originally had a first class ticket but then her flight was delayed and she ended up getting a coach seat for an earlier plane once the airports re-opened. The stewardess checked throughout the plane and reported to Ali that several of their first class passengers did not check in, probably another set back from the delays, and offered to upgrade her seat. Ali noticed how Evan was getting mobbed and taking pity on him informed the employee that she wouldn't move unless he moved with her.

Throughout this exchange Evan just watched silently, stunned. She almost winced when the look of recognition passed over his face. Offering a small smile she offered to have him move with her and looked pointedly at the other passengers that were now mobbing them because they thought they were together. Accepting her offer they moved much to the displeasure of her fans. Ali called out that she would be happy to sign auto-graphs if they sent them up, as long as no one told the landing airport that she was not on a private flight. It was obvious that she didn't want to be mobbed as soon as she stepped off the plane.

Once they re-settled into their new seats she turned and faced Evan waiting for the inevitable to happen. When he did not change his behavior towards her, attempt to suck up, or swamp her with a fan boy like passion she just stared bewildered. Starting up his doodling again he waited a few minutes for her to relax a bit before speaking.

"So when you said returning from business?" He left the question open but stopped to focus on her response and to see how much she would actually tell him.

"I was overseas in Seoul, South Korea, playing at a family function of Yiruma, the pianist. I had the pleasure of playing with him previously and we became friends. He recently just returned from his time in the Korean Navy which is mandatory for all their males." With a nod he went back to drawing on paper napkins and continued his story about teaching his nephew how to swim.

Smiling slightly, Ali realized that Evan was different. Ali felt the remaining tension that had built up within her start to release. Absently, she signed autographs on all sorts of pieces of paper even plane tickets, that the fans sent up to her while laughing at Evan's stories. When the airplane landed the stewardess let them off first and they dashed out of the terminal and headed directly towards baggage claim. No one recognized her and they were able to navigate the crowds with relative ease. After getting their luggage they continued on walking at a sedate pace.

"It's good that we both know this airport and will not waste any time trying to find our way." Evan, joking exclaimed as they boarded one of the underground train systems. Now that it was afternoon, all traveling passengers were awake, panicking as they went about their trips. Ali merely laughed before nodding in complete seriousness. As they stepped off the train they headed towards an exit. For a second they watched all the people around them racing off in different directions intent on reaching their destinations before realizing that this was where they parted ways. Stopping in the middle of the walkway they said their goodbyes.

"Thank you for dumping your cards all over me and keeping me company." He stated cheekily. Embarrassment flushed her cheeks as she recalled how they met.

"Contrary to popular belief it was not on purpose." She responded with laughter dancing in her dark eyes. Evan merely nodded as if he didn't belief a word she said. "Anyway. It was really greet to meet you Evan. Take care."

"It was great meeting you and thank you for helping pass the time. Best of luck with everything." With that he handed Ali her suitcases and they set out walking in their different directions. Evan had only gotten a few steps away from her when he heard his name being called. Thinking it was his sister picking him up he glanced around in confusion. Only to realize a moment later that it was coming behind him and he recognized Ali's voice. Turning around he barely registered her presence before she crashed into him wrapping her small arms around his neck. Her carryon bag slapped painfully into his back but he paid it no notice. The scent of lavender filled his lungs and he stood there too stunned to return the hug or even to move. Standing on her tip toes she kissed the edge of his mouth before muttering,

"Happy Holidays, Evan." And with that she disentangled herself from him and moved into the crowd leaving him there alone, with a small goofy smile on his face.

* * *

Since I finally saw the final season, I have had these thoughts just tumbling around in my brain and I decided to try writting a few one-shots. Evan is one of my favorite characters (especially from the "B" team) and decided that he deserves from love. This is the first one-shot in the series "Airport Girl" and it's between my own OC and our favorite Major! If you think about his character I can never see him with Laura, I don't think he would risk his career, he is way to much the model soldier. I know you can't help who you fall in love with but I don't think Cadman and Lorne would have really had enough time together off-missions to even think of risking their careers. But those are just my thoughts.

Thoughts/Comments/Questions? Well, then please hit the little button on the bottom and review! Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. I look forward to reading your thoughts and advice on how to improve my writing.

~Ageless Light


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